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To explore the Shanghai learning city，the effect of lifelong learning in the lives of the elderly，and their interrelation，this research adopts the qualitative research method as the research methodology.Case study research method excels at providing an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research.
Case studies emphasize detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships.Researchers have used the case study research method for many years across a variety of disciplines.Social scientists，in particular，have made wide use of this qualitative research method to examine contemporary real-life situations and provide a basis for the application of ideas and extension of methods.Researcher Robert K.Yin defines the case study research method as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context.
Case studies differ from other types of qualitative research method in that they are intensive descriptions and analyses of a single unit or bounded system，such as an individual，program，event，group，intervention，or community.The case study can be further defined by its special features.Qualitative case studies can be characterized as being particularistic，descriptive，and heuristic.“Beijing particularistic”means that case studies focus on a particular situation，event，program，or phenomenon.“Beijing descriptive” means that the end product of the case study is a rich，“thick” description of the phenomenon under study.“Beijing heuristic” means that case studies illuminate the reader's understanding of the phenomenon under study.Process is a focus for case study research；the process rather than outcomes justifies the selection of the case study.The interest is in the process rather than outcomes，in context rather than for a specific variable，in discovery rather than confirmation.
Case study design is employed to gain an in-depth understanding of a situation and meaning for those involved.It is the same with this research.The purpose of this study is to grasp the interaction between elderly lives and elderly learning.In addition，the study is based on the cases of elderly learners in community schools.In this view，the case study research method is appropriate for solving the research problems.
The study described elders' real learning and their lives by the case study research method.Through analysis of the interaction between elder lives and learning，people can have a deeper understanding of the purpose of this study.
Case study research is not limited to a single source of data，as in the use of questionnaires for carrying out a survey.In fact，good case studies benefit from having multiple sources of evidence.This research mainly employed three data collection techniques:conducting interviews，observing，and analyzing documents.In this research，the interview is used as the main data collection technique，and the other data collection techniques as auxiliary methods.
Purposeful sampling is based on the assumption that the investigator wants to discover，understand，and gain insight and，therefore，must select a sample from which the most can be learned.
The subjects of this study are the elderly learners in community schools，Changning district，Shanghai.Participants were selected for the following reasons.First is regional characteristics.Shanghai was the first to construct a learning city in China.The Changning district is Shanghai's economic development center and it is an urban area with a higher proportion of elderly people.It was designated as the experiment for community education in 2001.The community schools have developed here over time，and the elderly come here to learn and have an enriching learning experience.In addition，elderly learners in community schools have higher learning stability and group cohesion （this is a research consciousness formed gradually through interviews going further and deeper）.Thus，participants from community schools are suitable for this study.
Second is the participants' characteristics.Considering the study's design needs and time，the research project included interviews with 14 elderly learners.The participants of study were not learning for the purpose of re-employment and had participated in learning activities for more than three years.There is no specific limit in age.In terms of learning time，elderly people who learn for relatively long time and participate positively in activities are more suitable.Because they are sensitive to elderly learning，they can introduce the learning experience comprehensively.This is conductive to the further study.
Table 1.1 Changning district aging population in 2014 and Table 1.2 the basic information of the source data are as follows.
Table1.1 Changning District Aging Population in 2014
Table1.2 The Basic Information of the Source Data
续表
To obtain the needed research data from the interviewees and gather enough learning stories and materials，I went to Shanghai in August 2014，conducted the field study，and contacted Director Ding，who worked in the community education guidance center in the Changning district.With her help，I entered the division of lifelong education of the Changning district as a research intern for four months starting in September 2014.Then I commuted between different community schools and started to contact participants.In the community schools，with the support and cooperation of the directors and teachers，I not only came to understand the basic situation of how older adult learners learn at school，but also developed contacts for suitable interviewees for this research.
Before starting the interviews，I conducted a preliminary interview in August 2014.The interview subject was an elderly learner who had participated in learning activities for a long time after her retirement.Through interviewing her，I became clearer about elderly learners' learning purpose and motivation，learning style and contents，fun in the learning process，and influence on their life.She also provided a lot of thinking and suggestions for the research after the preliminary interview.Later，in the formal interviews，the interview outline was constantly adjusted.
The interviews started on October 24，2014.Because the elderly have different lives and learning activities，semi-structured interviews were employed.The interview outline was not provided to interviewees in advance，and questions were put forward only at the scene of the interview.I then asked them to provide memories and reply on the spot.The basic idea of this study was that the answers given by the respondents in a short time，in general，should be their real memories and thoughts and also be the most impressive factors that were worth consideration in the process of learning.
During the interview，I considered the characteristics of the elderly people，such as slow response and imprecise logic of language.At the beginning of the interviews，I tried my best to communicate with them in their communication ways.Also，I effectively expressed to the elderly people that the research paid attention to the phenomenon and behavior of their learning.For example，I wanted to know the reason for the older learners' learning，and didn't want to casually define them as“elderly”，so asked questions like “why did you choose to learn again？” On the one hand，the questions might have made the elders avoid the strangeness of some special terms，even appearing embarrassed because they don't understand the questions and had difficulty in answering.On the other hand，it also avoids the taboos that the respondents worry about their age and identity，and also means I can easily enter into conversation with each respondent.
Until December 10，2014 elderly learners had given the interviews，and every person had been interviewed twice.Every interview lasted more than two hours.Before the interview，the researcher made appointments with participants and all of them received the interview in the classroom when they finished their class.We can acquire an extensive，integral，and representative research vision through interviews with different elderly learners，as well as provide detailed and truthful data for later data analysis.
Data analysis is the process of making sense out of the data，and making sense out of data involves consolidating，reducing，and interpreting what people have said and what the researcher has seen and read；it is the process of making meaning.The process of study is an evolving process of data analysis.In accordance with the research design，the study merged the same or similar data，and distinguished different data to find the differences and connections between the data.Through further refining the content of the data，the main clues of the story set up the necessary relations，allowing the general conclusions of the study.
In the interview process，the researcher learned that the time of participating in elderly learning was the main line to explore，presenting procedural phenomenon and dynamic phenomenon in the process of elders' learning.In the analysis of elderly learners' stories，I always placed the data in the usual situation.The researcher used retired elderly learning as the main clue to describe and analyze the elderly life stage before and after retirement，the learning needs，the process of participating in learning，and changes in life.This way of analysis separates the former research data and then integrates the data；it can show readers a complete，real-life situation.From the descriptive analysis of elderly learning，the reader will have a general understanding of the research questions.On this basis，the researcher will further analyze the relationships between elderly learning and elderly lives.
Through summarizing the phenomena in the research data，and assigning them to similar concepts，the researcher conducted the analysis and derived the explanation.The researcher analyzed the relationship between elderly learning and elderly lives from four dimensions in the lives of the elderly and identified the interaction between them.Through the arrangement of interaction between elderly lives and elderly learning，the study put forward supporting programs for elderly learning and elderly lives in the construction of a learning city.